A ball indentation system, capable of determining the mechanical properties of any metallic substrate, has been loaned to TWI by Frontics of Korea. The AIS 2000, as it is designated, is to be used in a TWI Core Research Project on miniaturised mechanical testing.
Frontics is one of the pioneers in manufacturing portable ball indentors, for in-situ/non-destructive evaluation of tensile properties and hardness.
The system is light-weight and miniaturised for easy and fast transportation and installation. The indentation load-depth data can be converted to various tensile properties, through software installed in the data analysing computer.
The mechanical parameters that can be measured are as follows:
- Flow curve
- Yield strength
- Tensile strength
- Work hardening exponent
- Stress coefficient (K in the stress-strain correlation, ?= K ( ?))
- Vickers Hardness
- Rockwell Hardness A, C, D.
- Brinell Hardness (mini-ball)
AIS 2000 applications can be divided into two categories:
In the lab it can....
- Evaluate tensile properties of materials under development, without the need for a standard/conventional tensile-test
- Compare strength characteristics of weld/heat-affected zone/base metal and local regions with microstructural gradients for qualification/research purposes
- Provide basic mechanical properties for finite element analysis of similar/dissimilar materials
Out in the field it can....
- evaluate mechanical properties of ageing structures and facilities using non-destructive and in-situ analysis
- evaluate degradated properties of power plant and oil and gas company facilities for fitness-for-service and life assessment studies
- control the quality of materials and processed metal in cars, ships, trains and aircraft
For information about TWI's capabilities please contact us.